In Oman, postage stamps are more than simply little bits of paper used to pre-pay mail delivery and/or to be collected by philatelists (stamp collectors). The topics depicted on these stamps can also play an important role in promoting both the national identity and goals of the state. Such was the case of stamps issued by the Sultanate of Oman postal service during the reign of Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al-Said which were used to reinforce His Majesty’s goal of the modernization of the state within the context of its cultural traditions. This chapter provides an overview of Omani stamps issued to 1970, a period characterized by foreign control of the post office from 1864 to 1966, with very few stamps issued during the final years of Said bin Taimur’s reign. Attention then turns to a brief transition after 1970 as stamps began to play a prominent role in promoting modernization and national identity. This is then followed by more detailed analysis of specific stamp issues depicting the Sultanate’s economic, social, and political progress while at the same time reinforcing Oman’s distinctive cultural identity with issues depicting handicrafts, architecture, dress, Oman’s maritime tradition, as well as the country’s links to its wider Arab and Islamic heritage. Through these stamp issues the Sultanate documented its material progress and rich cultural traditions and publicized the progress of Oman’s Renaissance.

During Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s nearly fifty-year reign, Oman issued over 800 postage stamps. My interest in those stamps actually pre-dates the ascension of Sultan Qaboos in 1970. Collecting Omani stamps prompted my interest and eventual scholarly specialization on the Sultanate. Don Reid’s 1972 article introduced me to how stamps help us to understand the history of a country. Since then, stamps have developed a limited scholarly interest, but several scholars have examined the role that they play in promoting nationalism and cultural heritage. Recent examples of this include the works of Henio Hovo and Maria Zofia Libera. By way of one example among several, Harcourt Fuller provides an excellent case study on postcolonial Ghana’s use of stamps in promoting national identity, a process labeled “banal nationalism,” by Michael Billig.